It is known to protect outer sidewalls of certain tires by protector annular shields each mounted on the wheel rim receiving the tire, as for example disclosed by Patent Application US 2009/0315389 A1 which presents such a protector shield consisting of one curved shield ring in particular for fire protection against flames or flammable substances.
Patent Application US 2010/0060072 A1 discloses a protector shield formed by a ring comprising a plurality of spaced arcuate sectors which are independently connected by respective radial springs to a holder attached to the wheel rim. Similarly, Patent GB-A-511,056 discloses such a protector shield ring formed of arcuate sectors resiliently mounted on the wheel rim.
These separate and independent arcuate sectors allow to easy the manufacturing process and the replacement cost of the protector shield for large size tires of civil engineering vehicles, for instance, compared to a protector shield made of a single circumferential ring. Nonetheless, a major drawback of these protector shields comprising such ring sectors which are not connected together is that these sectors may be deformed upwards in contact with rocks or stones, so that the facing tire sidewall cannot be fully protected in such a case.